


you're all that i need (underneath the tree)

by liionne



Series: A thousand ways to meet [24]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard allows a mall elf named Jim help him give the best Christmas he can to his baby girl, and gets more than he bargained for along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're all that i need (underneath the tree)

**Author's Note:**

> Well a merry Christmas to you all!
> 
> Firstly, thank you for the prompt (I think this was another Lucy prompt- if I'm wrong please correct me!) and secondly, I apologise for any mistakes. Happy reading!

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy I wanna see santa!"

"Uh-huh-"

"Daddy! I wanna see santa!"

"We will, sweetheart, but-"

"Santa, daddy, santa!"

"Joanna-"

"Santa!"

Leonard deflated. He'd never been able to deny his little girl anything. She grinned as she tugged him towards the nice looking blonde elf at the end of the ridicuously long line, and she looked up at him with a gap-tooted smile.

"Thanks, daddy." She said in a sing-song voice.

She was quiet for all of ten seconds.

"Daddy, is santa up there?" She asked in a whisper, looking from her daddy to the Nice-Looking Elf, and then quickly back to her daddy.

The Nice-Looking Elf smiled. "He's right up there, sweetheart," She said, pointing between the bodies of people until he was pointing at a fat man in a red suit sat on a big chair above a podium.

Leonard sighed when he thought Joanna wouldn't notice, and thought about all the things he _could_ be doing.

Jocelyn had called the day before with: _"Clay and I are going to the Bahamas for Christmas and we can't take Jo with us. You've always wanted her for the holidays, so you can have her his year. Come pick her up at twelve, our flight's at four."_

Leonard had been planning on drinking through Christmas, preferably on his own, like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. Instead, he was running around like a mad man, trying to buy food and decorations and stuff like that. The only thing was, he had no idea what he was supposed to be getting, and where he was supposed to be getting it from. Last time he'd had a Christmas he'd enjoyed, he'd been sixteen. Now he was thirty years old, and totally out of practice with the holiday.

He didn't realise it was their turn until Joanna was tugging on her hand.

Leonard hung back whilst "santa" (hadn't Leonard seen him behind the counter of the liquor store?) chatted to Joanna, asking her what she wanted. He crossed his arms over his chest, watching them chatter to each other, when someone addressed him.

"The gift's free, but its $5 for a photo."

Leonard turned to a man who couldn't have been older than 25, with painted-on rosy red cheeks and eyes so blue they looked like they'd been painted on too.

He sighed, rooted around in his wallet, and handed him the $5.

They stood in silence for a second, before the Elf said, "Your wife off shopping?"

"Haven't got a wife." Leonard answered gruffly.

A pause. And then- "Fathers for Justice?"

Leonard scowled, turning to look at him. "No. Now mind your own business."

The Elf nodded, and Leonard plastered a smile on his face as his baby girl raced towards him, having posed for her photo and gotten her gift.

"Daddy, can we go see the reindeer? Santa says his reindeer are outside!" She said, blinking large brown eyes at him.

"We can't, sweetheart." Leonard said, watching Joanna's smile fade with a sinking heart. "We've still gotta go get a turkey, and get somethin' for dessert, and then we need to get some nice decorations-"

"I can help you with that."

The Elf Leonard had given his money to stepped forward. "I'm off shi-"

He looked at Joanna, who was looking at the "elf" with wide eyes.

"I have a _friend_ who's off shift in fifteen minutes. If you wait around, or if you go and see the reindeer _now_ , he can help you out. He's good with Christmas."

Joanna was already getting excited. Leonard couldn't deny her anything- he nodded, relenting.

"Alright. We'll go see the reindeer, and we'll meet your _friend_ at the water fountain."

"Deal." He nodded.

Leonard have a single nod, and led Joanna away by the hand.

~*~

When his _friend_ showed, Leonard almost did a double take.

Now, without his rosy cheeks and green tights, he actually looked pretty damn good. His eyes were still those few shades too blue, and though before Leonard had been wondering if the mall went as far as to make their elves were contact lenses, he was now starting to think that those were actually just his eyes.

Joanna grinned as she stepped towards him, being all polite like her daddy had taught her. "Excuse me, sir? Are you friend with any elves?"

He crouched down to her level, and nodded. "I know lots of elves. I'm a special friend of Santa's. I'm Jim."

Joanna's eyes widened, and in awe, she said, "My name's Joanna."

"Joanna," Jim nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Leonard watched the exchange, and tried not to stare at the curve of Jim's ass as he crouched like that. So it'd been a while since he'd gotten any, Jim was hot, and he wasn't used to random acts of kindness. He looked away, to the ceiling, and _almost_ missed the next echange between the pair.

"Now, my friend told me that you and your dad are having a little trouble with Christmas this year." Jim began, speaking directly to Joanna rather than to Leonard.

"Uh-huh." Joanna nodded. "Normally I spend Christmas iwth my momma, but this year she's on holiday with her new boyfriend instea-"

"That's enough, Jo." Leonard stopped her there, a hand on her head to tell her to shush.

Joanna pulled a face at Jim, who looked up at Leonard. "Well uh, I guess that doesn't matter." Jim said, obviously trying to approach the subject delicately. Leonard hoped that the burning in his cheeks was just psychological, and that Jim couldn't actually see it. He was wrong. Jim could _definitely_ see the blush that rose to his cheeks. "What matters," He continued, regardless. "Is that we make sure you and your dad have a _great_ Christmas. Right?"

"Right!" Joanna grinned.

"So," Jim stood, straightening out, and looked to Leonard. "What've you got so far."

Leonard looked at his list, but it was unnecessary. He knew exactly what they had so far. "Nothin'." He answered.

Jim nodded. "Awesome. Let's get going." He grinned, and began leading the way.

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, and they had a cart full of board games, and were stood in front of a rack full of tinself, trying it on like feather boas.

"You both look fabulous," Leonard told them, raising his eyebrows. "But if you hadn't noticed, the mall's gonna be closing soon, and we still haven't _actually_ got decorations, or any food-"

"Don't you worry about it, Bones." Jim grinned. When Leonard tried to ask about the new nickname, he just waved his hand. "We'll get everything we need. And we'll look _fabulous_ whilst we doit."

Joanna giggled, and she tugged on Jim's hand. For having just met him ,they were awfully friendly. Leonard scowled as whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. "I think you're right, Jojo- He _would_ suit the turquoise."

Before Leonard could protest, Jim had wrapped a turquoise string of tinsel around his neck, flicking it over his shoulder.

"Perfect!" Jim grinned.

Joanna giggled, and Leonard scowled as Jim took a picture on his phone.

"I'll email that one to you." He chuckled.

"Why don't you get the elves to send it to me?" Leonard snapped, pulling it from his neck.

"Even better idea!" Jim grinned, and he looked down at Joanna. "Well we've got tinsel." He said. "Let's go look for baubles."

Leonard sighed, shaking his head as he pushed the cart after him.

~*~

They went to put the decorations in the car before they went for food; Jim knew everything, got them the best deals on the best food, and was evidently an expert in Christmas shopping. Whilst he debated which Cranberry jelly to get, Joanna asked, "How d'ya know so much about Christmas, Mr. Jim? Did the elves teach ya?"

"Uh-huh." Jim nodded. "They taught me everything I know. I told you, didn't I? Me and Santa are like this."

He held his fingers up, crossing his index and middle finger over each other. Joanna giggled, and he handed her a jar of cranberry jelly to put in the cart.

He was good with Jo. Leonard could see now why the kid was a mall elf, but he was also struggling to understand his reasons at th same time. He was a genius, and not just in Christmassy matters. When Leonard asked for an update on how much their shopping was coming to, he could do the math in his head in an instant. Someone that good, and someone his age, should've had a decent job at minimum. But there he was, a mall elf, helping some dead-beat dad make his daughter's Christmas just a little bit better than it would've been. It didn't make sense to Leonard, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Mr. Jim, do we need whipped cream?" Joanna asked, tugging on his hand again.

Jim looked down at her. "Of _course_ we need whipped cream. We need to make snowmen, right?"

"Snowmen?" Joanna tilted her head.

"Like this." Jim nodded, uncapping the can of cream. Before Leonard could protest, once again, Jim had squirted two little blobs of whipped cream onto the palm of Joanna's hand, making what looked kind of like a snowman. "See? Snowman."

Joanna's eyes widened, and she grinned. "Can I eat him?"

Jim shrugged. "If you want to."

"Joanna-" Leonard was about to warn her, because she'd be getting her dinner as soon as they got home, but it was too late. She licked her palm clean and grinned.

"Can I try?" She asked, reaching out for the can.

Jim, of course, obliged, and Leonard lamented at how much this stupid pretty mall elf was spoiling his daughter to no end.

Her little fingers weren't strong enough for the can; she tried to press it down, but the button wouldn't budge. Frowning, she turned it slightly, pointing it away from Jim's hand. When she finally managed to press the button down properly, it squirted straight out at Jim's chest, covering him in whipped cream.

Leonard's eyes widened, and Joanna slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I'm real sorry Mr. Jim." She said quietly.

"Yeah?" Jim asked. Leonard could see the smirk in his features. "You will be."

Grabbing his own can of whipped cream, Jim squirted some into her hair, and Leonard was about to cry. Sticky. She was sticky. She was going to get eveerything else sticky-

His inner monologue was interrupted when he was hit in the eye with a load of cream.

Joanna's jaw dropped, and Jim looked a little frightened.

"Alright, that's it!" Leonard cried. He reached over to grab his own can of cream, shaking it hard before pointing it back at Jim.

Jim was evidently in shock as the cream hit him; Leonard McCoy, having fun? Leonard sniggered as he wiped cream out of his eyes, and all it took was Joanna giggling before they were flinging cream everywhere.

"Excuse me!" They were interrupted a few minutes later by an angry looking woman, her hands on her hips as she looked at the mess they'd made.

Everyone stopped; as he turned, Leonard accidently fired some cream over the shopping attendant's shoulder.

"I'll pay for all this." He said, triyng not to laugh as Jim and Joanna giggled behind him.

"I know you will." The woman snapped. "Please continue your shopping, or leave."

"Yes ma'am." Leonard nodded, watching her retreating figure before turning back to the others.

"Put the cream in the cart." He instructed. "And let's get goin', before we get in more trouble."

Leonard gave Jim and grin as they moved on past the cream, and he pretended to ignore the incredulous look Jim gave him.

~*~

"Mr. Jim, do you spend Christmas with the elves?" Joanna asked, as Leonard emptired their cart at the checkout, and Jim bagged everything up.

"Yep." Jim said. "Every year."

"Why don't you spend Christmas with your family? Are the elves your family?" She asked.

Leonard was only half listening; if he'd known what Jim's answer would be, he'd have told her off for being nosy.

"Uh- no, they're not my family." Jim answered, his eyes strictly on the shopping.

"Why don't you spend Christmas with your family?" She asked quietly.

Leonard would've told her off, but he was curious. Shamefully, he kept emptying their cart.

"My brother lives really far away," Jim explained. "So I don't see him for Christmas. And my mom's not a big fan of the holidays."

"What about your Pa?" Joanna asked, blinking innocently.

Leonard _knew_ he should have stopped her. He felt awful about it, too, as Jim answered, "He died. A long time ago."

"Oh." Joanna murmured. She paused, before wrapping herself around Jim. Leonard looked up for a second, watching them, before looking away. He was a bad person for letting that continue as long as it did.

"It's alright," Jim said, patting her back. "I have Christmas with the elves, remember? I still have nice Christmases."

"I guess so." Joanna murmured. She looked up at him with a bright, cheerful smile.

"That'll be a $120.45." The cashier said, looking to Leonard.

He handed over the money, replacing the bags in the cart before ushering them out of the supermarket. "Let's get goin'." He said, trying to shake the conversation from his memory.

~*~

Leonard gave Jim a ride home, but instead of following Jim's directions, he found himself pulling up outside of his own home. The whole car was silent as Leonard switched the engine off, and waited for someone to say something.

"Uh, Bones?" Jim said, turning to look at him. "This isn't my house."

"No," Leonard agreed. "This is my house."

"You're going to make me walk?" Jim asked, looking a little hurt.

Leonard rolls his eyes. "'Course not." He said. He turned to look at Jim, and he paused. "I was wonderin' if, maybe, you'd like to spend Christmas with us?"

Joanna clapped her hands in the back of the car, and Jim blinked a few times.

"Unless you and the elves have already made plans." Leonard shrugged, after a little while, giving JIm room to escape if he wanted to.

Jim shook his head. "I'm sure they wouldn't notice my absence for one year, right?"

"Right." Leonard grinned. "C'mon inside." He said. "You can stay the night, if y' want."

"Yeah! Sleepover with Mr. Jim!" Joanna cried, grinning and clapping her hands again.

Jim couldn't really say no now, could he? He nodded, getting out of the car and moving to the trunk to help Leonard with the shopping. Leonard had been hoping he would stay; he'd get to give Jim the gift he'd bought him.

~*~

Christmas day went surprisingly well. Jo rose bright and early, and woke the Leonard and Jim, dragging them downstairs so she could open her gifts. Christmas dinner was prepared without anything burning, and it actually tasted pretty good; Jim said he thought he should have chosen the other type of cranberry jelly, but Leonard said this stuff was still good. They watched Christmas movies until Joanna passed out, snoring softly on the couch.

"'m gonna go do the washing up." Leonard said, standing.

"I'll help." Jim offered, rising as Leonard did and following him into the kitchen.

Leonard didn't head to the sink; in fact, he headed out of the back door, and onto the porch. He leaned against the railing, and watched a confused Jim follow him out there.

"I got you a gift." Leonard explained, as Jim settled in front of him.

Jim looked around, and Leonard grinned a little. "Look up."

Jim tilted his head back, and caught sight of the mistletoe Leonard had hung up the night before. A smile slowly formed on his face, and he looked back down at Leonard.

"It's tradition, right?"

Jim paused, and nodded. "Right." He agreed.

Leonard wasted no more time- he stepped forward, wound his arms around Jim's waist, and kissed him as if nothing could make him happier. And to be honest, he wasn't sure anything else could.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so basically I wanted to say merry christmas to you all, and thank you.
> 
> I haven't been writing mckirk for too long, and sometimes I doubt myself. But there are a lot of people on here who make me feel so much better about it, and who are always so nice about my works. I wanted to say thank you to those people who have inspired this series and have stuck with it, and have put up with all my typos and shoddy writing!
> 
> Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!


End file.
